In the following lines, Lewis explains why a lustful man ironically has no use for a real woman. He writes:

We use a most unfortunate idiom when we say, of a lustful man prowling the streets, that he “wants a woman.” Strictly speaking, a woman is just what he does not want. He wants a pleasure for which a woman happens to be the necessary piece of apparatus. How much he cares about the woman as such may be gauged by his attitude to her five minutes after fruition (one does not keep the carton after one has smoked the cigarettes).

Booker T. Washington, an educator, reformer, and founder of Tuskegee University, preached a philosophy of self-reliance by elevating oneself through education, hard work and entrepreneurship as an agenda for black America’s advancement. According to former congressional representative Allen West, those three values completely align with conservative principles.

If Booker T. Washington’s agenda for black Americans had not been circumvented by radical progressives W.E.B. Du Bois and the NAACP, we would be experiencing a different America today.

Booker T. Washington’s prescription for advancement was specific, realistic, and measurable and results driven and useful for any individual (regardless of race). However, the NAACP mission statement is full of vague social justice terminology with no specifics and is unmeasurable and unattainable with no sufficient directions to how to achieve it other than through government intervention or force. In fact, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 already covers their entire mission and vision statements.

Molech Cult Demands Total Dominance — Yep. Leftists love abortion as much as Molech loved his version of child sacrifice. They use the “safe, legal and rare” mantra in a morbidly cynical ploy to pretend they think it is less than ideal, but their actions betray them. They want it legal and often, and they don’t really care if it is safe for mother or child.

Exposed: How the VA red-flags ‘disruptive’ vets – Make no mistake: They will do the same and more when Obamacare fulfills its objective of becoming single-payer. They will control your healthcare, so they will control you and your speech.

HIV infections are exploding — This is not surprising. People conditioned to rebel against God’s created order are not the type to take nanny-state advice on using condoms. And it is symptomatic of the pathology that you would even have to encourage them to use condoms, disease risks or not. You’d think that they would be begging for condoms to keep the feces off their body.

HIV infections are rising among gay men in many parts of the world, the World Health Organization warned Friday, urging all men who have sex with men to take antiretroviral drugs to prevent infection.

Infection rates are rising again among men who have sex with men — the group at the epicentre of AIDS pandemic when it first emerged 33 years ago, he told reporters in Geneva.

While images of skeletal men dying of AIDS in the 1980s pushed the world to act, a younger generation that has grown up among new treatments that make it possible to live with HIV are less focused on the disease, he suggested.

Today, this group is 19 times more likely than the general population to be infected by HIV, Hirnschall said.

In a series of studies beginning in 1999, he found that when girls had a warm relationship with their fathers and spent a lot of time with them in the first five to seven years of their lives, they had a reduced risk of early puberty, early initiation of sex and teen pregnancy.

5. The Cost to Your Mission

The Lord’s commission is an urgent commission because it is a matter of eternal life and death. Time is short and hell is forever, which makes the Christian’s business an urgent business. And yet so many Christians are distracted by something as evil and as wasteful as pornography. Their attention is arrested, their energy depleted, their usefulness undermined. Don Whitney says it well: “If there are any regrets in Heaven, they will only be that we did not use our earthly time more for the glory of God and for growth in His grace. If this is so, this may be Heaven’s only similarity with hell, which will be filled with agonizing laments over time so foolishly squandered.” For the sake of your mission, stop looking at pornography.

Shamed Prophets Become Fearless – I’m no prophet, but I agree with these points. We shouldn’t shed diplomacy, but you can become more bold as you learn and practice more, and as you develop an eternal perspective.

[W]hen was the last time you hedged on an opinion because of…those around you? When did you last choose your words based more on the politics of a situation than on truth?…

It’s no wonder that one of the first tasks of any prophet was to make himself shameful. John the Baptist wore camel hair and ate insects. Isaiah had to walk around naked for years. Ezekiel had to cook his food over dung. Elijah ate only food carried by ravens—nasty carrion birds. The first thing God told Hosea to do was to marry a whore.

Prophets must be fearless, immune to the pressures of kings and crowds, aligned only with the breath of God.

We are in need of prophets now….

Prophets must be immune to floggings on Facebook and Twitter. They must be fearless before friends and tenure committees and stadiums filled with the priests of Baal. The cool-shaming can have no sting. The world is busy applying pressure on “social issues,” and Christians are busy caving left and right, trying to accept fresh cultural dogma simply so that they might be accepted….

When “war on science” means “daring to fight corruption” – This is foundational to any intelligent discussions on Intelligent Design/Darwinism, global warming/”climate change,” etc. People respond to incentives, and there are plenty of incentives for scientists to read from the script.

Obviously, academic freedom means nothing when one’s views differ from the liberal faculty majority – or when they contrast with views and “science” that garners the university millions of dollars a year from government, foundation, corporate and other sources, to advance the alarmist climate change agenda. All these institutions are intolerant of research by scientists like Legates, because they fear losing grant money if they permit contrarian views, discussions, debates or anything that questions the climate chaos “consensus.” At this point, academic freedom and free speech obviously apply only to advance selected political agendas, and campus “diversity” exists in everything but opinions.

Climate alarmists have been implicated in the ClimateGate scandal, for conspiring to prevent their adversaries from receiving grants, publishing scientific papers, and advancing their careers. Yet they are staunchly supported by their universities, professional organizations, union – and groups like Greenpeace.

Meanwhile, climate disaster skeptics are vilified and harassed by these same groups, who pretend they are fighting to “let scientists conduct research without the threat of politically motivated attacks.” Far worse, we taxpayers are paying the tab for the junk science – and then getting stuck with regulations, soaring energy bills, lost jobs and reduced living standards…based on that bogus science.

Far left propagandist and rabble-rouser Michael Moore righteously proclaims that he is of the proletariat and not part of the 1% (video). Yet hawking his anti-capitalist B.S. on the capitalist market has earned him enough to buy nine houses. The dumping of Kathy Glynn, his wife of 22 years, is bringing embarrassing details to light regarding his conspicuous consumption:

His hit movies and best-selling books have begat a lifestyle far from most ballcap-wearing, duck-waddling denizens of Flint [a rustbelt hellhole that he falsely claims as his hometown].

How to believe – Great points by Stan about challenging verses on how the Bible teaches that we come to believe in Jesus.

If you want to prove you don’t hate gays, all you have to do is worship at their feet – Exactly. Have you noticed how the iconically macho National Football League now reports to the gay lobby? Same thing for the NBA, MLB, etc. What a bunch of wimps. They join loads of apostate Christian churches and weak-willed people who would rather bow to political correctness than speak the truth. The truth sounds like hate to those that hate the truth.

Individuals exposed to socialism were twice as likely to cheat as those who had not been in a socialist system, says a new study from a collaboration between Duke University and the University of Munich. “The longer individuals were exposed to socialism, the more likely they were to cheat on our task.”

Repaid Kindness – This is symptomatic of the Islamic mindset: No qualms about encouraging a family member to literally blow up herself and the people who healed her. Hat tip: Glenn

On 20 June 2005, twenty-one-year-old Wafa Samir Ibrahim al-Biss was detained at a crossing into Israel when something about her gait struck the guards on duty at that post as somewhat amiss. This Palestinian woman was arrested after a search revealed she had been carrying 22 lbs. of explosives strapped to her body. While al-Biss had ostensibly been attempting to enter Israel to attend a follow-up appointment at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva, questioning revealed that it had been her intent to detonate the payload she’d been carrying at that institution. The would-be bomber had been treated there five months previous for severe burns received after a gas canister exploded on a fire while she was cooking at her refugee camp home in the Gaza Strip.

I think women gravitate to 50 Shades of Grey (and other similar erotica) because they haven’t embraced the proper roles in sex and marriage. Feminism has taught them that they can never, ever, in any fashion submit to a man…unless it’s during sex, if that sort of thing is their cup of tea. Anything goes in the bedroom. Feminism told them that it’s degrading to be a stay-at-home mom or to submit to a husband or to want a lot of children. They should never have sex with their husbands unless they feel like it. They should never let a man make decisions for their family. But having a stranger use and abuse you sexually? Well, that’s empowering, don’t ya know.

The mind reels. I usually don’t use the “s” word in blogging, but it is so appropriate here.

Radical pro-abortionist and false teacher Chuck “Jesus is not the only way but He sure is a bigot” Currie of the UCC (Unitarians Counterfeiting Christ) took a break from taking little girls to gay pride parades toto tell us how to solve the problems in the Middle East: An Absurd Peace Plan That Might Work.

His solution? Let the religious leaders work it out.

For a guy who fashions himself as such an expert that was a special kind of stupid thing to say. He doesn’t even know that in Islam religion is inseparable from politics. The “separation” concept is meaningless to them.

Of course, Chuck is the progressive “Christian” minister who has read the Bible so little that he thought John 14:6 was the only verse claiming Jesus’ exclusivity. With a wave of his hand he dismissed the entire Gospel of John from the Canon and inserted the “Gospel” of Thomas. Oh, and he said we have as much to learn from Islam as they do from us.

This is the kind of person masquerading as a Christian in most Leftist churches.

More silliness:

U.S. Christian leaders who wrote to President Obama this week were correct to argue: “As U.S. churches and Christian organizations, we join others worldwide who are calling for an immediate end to the violence — as well as its underlying causes — in Palestine and Israel.” This conflict must stop.

Well, of course, since some false teachers said so.

The rest of the piece is similar nonsense, claiming that both sides are equally bad and false accusing Israel of targeting civilians.

Chuck and the media ignore the truth about the religion of peace. Their body count stacks up daily yet they pretend they are similar to Christianity. If Muslims are so peaceful why are so many afraid to offend them? And if Christians are so dangerous why are so few afraid to offend them?

On the other hand, let’s send Chuck and the other Leftists to all the Islamic countries propping up Hamas and let them tell them they must stop what they are doing. They could also inform the Muslims how other religions are just as true as Islam. Now that would solve something.

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

Lest anyone think this is gratuitous Catholic-bashing, please note that I spend way more time addressing false teachers within Protestantism.

The Mother Mary Facebook page shared this story about how demons allegedly fear Mary and her power for salvation. These demons also give you tips on how to be saved — but only because they were allegedly forced to. I completely agree that the message is demonic in nature, just not in the way the author intended it. I see these possibilities:

1. A demon really said it, but was lying because Satan wants to confuse people about Mary’s role, take away glory from Jesus and keep people in bondage.

2. Someone made it up as “evidence” of the Catholic Church’s false claims about Mary. And we know who the father of lies is.

This is only believable to those who don’t study the Bible and/or those who are hostile to its truths.

When Saint Dominic was preaching the Rosary near Carcassone, an Albigensian was brought to him who was possessed by the devil. Saint Dominic exorcised him in the presence of a great crowd of people; it appears that over twelve thousand had come to hear him preach.

During the exorcism, the demon was forced to speak the following about devotion to the Mother of God: “Listen well, you Christians: the Mother of Jesus Christ is all-powerful, and She can save Her servants from falling into hell. She is the Sun which destroys the darkness of our wiles. It is She who uncovers our hidden plots, breaks our snares, and makes our temptations useless and ineffectual.

Please stop and consider for a moment whether a demon of Satan just might lie about how people are really saved.

So we are supposed to be her servants and not Christ’s? Mary is all-powerful?

The Holy Spirit forgot to mention any of that in the Bible when He addressed the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

“We have to say, however reluctantly, that not a single soul who has really persevered in Her service has ever been damned with us; one single sigh that She offers to the Blessed Trinity is worth far more than all the prayers, desires, and aspirations of all the saints.
“We fear Her more than all the other saints in Heaven together, and we have no success with Her faithful servants. Many Christians who call upon Her when they are in the hour of death, and who really ought to be damned according to our ordinary standards, are saved by Her intercession.

They slip up here when referring to “our ordinary standards.” Uh, wouldn’t that be God’s standards that are involved with the damnation question?

“Oh, if only that Mary (it is thus in their fury that they called Her) had not pitted Her strength against ours and had not upset our plans, we should have conquered the Church and should have destroyed it long before this, and we would have seen to it that all of the Orders in the Church fell into error and disorder.

So they fear Mary but not Jesus? Interesting.

“Now that we are forced to speak, we must also tell you this: nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because She obtains for Her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins, and by means of this they obtain God’s forgiveness and mercy.”

So we’re saved by saying the rosary and not by repenting and believing in Jesus? I missed that part in the Bible. Must have been right after the part about vain repetition.

For the record, I think that some people in the Catholic church are saved but just don’t know what the foundations of the religion really are (works-based justification, Mariolatry, indulgences, purgatory, etc.). I also think that many in the Protestant church aren’t saved.

But people who believe what that Facebook page said have some wildly inaccurate theology. The comments there were as creepy and sad as the post itself. I beg people to read the Bible for themselves and abandon these man-made / demon-made tales. Read the Book of Acts, the history of the early church, and ask why Mary was only mentioned once — and that was merely noting her presence a room. Why no mentions in Romans? And 1 Corinthians? And 2 Corinthians? And so on. If the Bible was given to us by the Catholic religion, as it falsely claims, then why doesn’t it include more about Mary?

This is from another post on that site. I don’t recall any Bible verses about this, either.

We finally did it: We dropped cable TV and our land line phone, saving lots of money and not really giving anything up. The only people who ever called the land line were solicitors and our parents, so we switched to mobile only.

We added HD antennas, so we still get the channels we want (we watch very, very little TV). And we got a pleasant surprise: Our TIVO will record off the antenna.

We also bought Rokus. Mrs. Eternity Matters found a few things she likes on the Roku, such as a Pilates channel, music channels, access to the Sirius account, and more. And Netflix and Amazon streaming are way faster on the Roku than on TIVO.

I must say it was a lot of fun to return the TV hardware to Comcast. We are keeping our Internet service with them. I got a good deal for this year at least — a little less than U-verse for theoretically higher speeds, plus we don’t have to change email addresses.

I was invited to write this for the Stubborn Things blog and am cross-posting it here.

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Stealing makes an unspoken yet clear and outrageous claim against God: “You didn’t order the universe properly, so I will fix your mistakes by taking what is rightfully mine.” Therefore, it is a sin against God and neighbor.

Stealing is typically accompanied by other sins. The root is the pride in thinking we deserve more. Coveting leads to stealing just as unrighteousness anger and lust are precursors to the physical acts of murder and adultery and are also violations of the spirit of the law. Lying usually surrounds thefts, and the cover-ups are often worse than the crimes. In the investigation work my group does I’ve noted that people who steal don’t mind lying about stealing.

We are often clever and subtle in how we take what doesn’t belong to us. Sure, some steal the old-fashioned way. I come across those people both at work, when investigating those who steal from my employer, and in prison ministry (it keeps my life in balance). Most of us are more sophisticated, though, and pretend that we don’t steal because we aren’t physically taking property clearly belonging to another. We use our spiritual gift of rationalization* not only to justify theft but to pretend that our vice is a virtue.

Exhibit A: Those who petition Caesar to take from neighbor A by force to redistribute to neighbor B and congratulate themselves on how generous they are. That thinly disguised attempt at sanctified theft is so ingrained that people often use it to justify why they give so little back to God. It is symptomatic of our decline that we must remind people that Jesus taught to give your money. I submit, and the good folks at Dictionary.com agree, that taxes and giving have unique and irreconcilable definitions.

And yes, I used a political example. God’s commandment against stealing and his admonitions to give presuppose the ownership of private property. If it isn’t yours, there is nothing to steal and you have nothing to give. Politics should be about the ethical use of power, so our biblical worldviews should influence our voting. It is foolish to let our ideological foes tell us that parts of the universe aren’t under God’s sovereignty — especially when those shouting their misunderstanding of the “separation of church and state” issue only try to silence the religious people they disagree with.

Softballs aside, let’s look closer to home.

While Leftists steal jobs and taxes from those impacted by illegal immigration, crony capitalists are just as guilty of theft because they want cheap labor for themselves.

At a Sunday School party celebrating the birth of our Savior, a group of relatively conservative Christians lamented the fall of Napster because they could no longer download “free” music. After all, those rich record companies could afford it.

Some Bible-believing Christians concede that Obamacare is bad for many, but it helps them so they support it.

Poor driving puts our neighbors at risk. We steal some of their safety and well-being when we prioritize our schedules and convenience above our neighbors’ best interests. We don’t actually announce, “I’m running late, so I’ll risk your health, life and property to make up time,” but our actions betray us.

When speaking about leadership to professional groups I ask, “What is it called when you take something that doesn’t belong to you?” [Pause] Stealing, of course. So what is it called when you take credit for your employees’ ideas? [Uncomfortable pause] Yep, stealing.

How about stealing time from your employer? Would it be ironic and hypocritical to write about stealing on work time, even if you make it up as necessary and meet all your commitments and more? That’s a hypothetical, of course.

Then there are sins like stealing the joy of others via all sorts of selfish acts and unkind words, stealing purity via out-of-wedlock sex, stealing reputations via gossip, stealing the innocence and security of children via frivolous divorce, and more.

If we love God we shouldn’t sit in judgment of how He has ordered our lives. If we love our neighbors we shouldn’t take what belongs to them.

Thankfully, the blood of the cross can cover our many sins of stealing. God adopts, completely forgives and pours eternal blessings on all who repent and trust in Jesus. By his spirit we can be conformed more to his likeness every day and begin to only desire that which authentically belongs to us. We can also remember that it is only ours by his grace, and that when Jesus said to lay up treasures in Heaven it wasn’t marketing spin.

Black Christians and the Myth of Prosperity Preaching – Great points by someone who caught on to the scam and broke free. Tip offs: The pastor mainly talks about giving, all giving is directed to go to his church (i.e., him) and he pressures you to give to him rather than pay other obligations that you committed to. Yes, we should give generously, but not to frauds. See 2 Corinthians 9.

After I completed a couple of degrees and began associating with a group of financially intelligent individuals, I started to learn and apply sound financial principles. I then realized that my financial situation had improved for two reasons: more education (resulted in a better job with higher pay and/or promotion on current job) and knowledge of how to manage and invest my income. I also realized that my pastors never mentioned education or investments (other than investing in the kingdom of God) as a means to acquire wealth.

I then began to wonder why my wealthy pastors never encouraged their members to acquire as much education as possible as a means to a higher-paying job, or to seek out a professional financial planner to advise them on how to set up a budget and invest some of their income. Is it because the wealthy pastors know that if their faithful followers become educated, it will more difficult to manipulate them? In fact, on many occasions the pastors would mock the members who did have college degrees.

An ounce of cashews is 150 calories, but will keep you satiated longer than a processed-carb snack of equal calories. Cashews are a good source of healthy fats and protein, with 5 grams of protein per one ounce serving and 9 grams of unsaturated fats.

The mere presence of a gay pro-Israel couple at the rally “set off a hailstorm” of venom from Hamas supporters that would no doubt be national news by now if the epithets had been hurled by, say, Tea Partiers. (Incidentally, I’ve never been able to square the circle of grassroots Lefties’ anti-Israel attitudes. The tiny nation is an oasis of pluralistic democracy in an autocratic and oppressive neighborhood, it boasts a robust nationalized healthcare system, and it proudly protects the rights of women and gays. And yet many on the far Left aggressively side with Israel’s violent, intolerant — and in some cases, genocidal — adversaries. Why?) In any case, let’s forget about these Holocaust- and death-celebrating slurs, and ignore disgusting scenes like this.

The verdict is in: if the President really wants increased personal-income growth, population growth, and job growth, he should encourage states to get rid of forced unionism and adopt right-to-work laws today.

Still one of the best music videos ever. And a great song to dance the Tango to! Seriously.